ABSTRACT/SUMMARY The present application outlines a mentored career development plan to improve Dr. Erica Cruvinel's research skills and support her pursuit of a career as an independent researcher. Research Plan: African American (AA) smokers, who bear a disproportionate share of tobacco-related mortality, are poorly served by the one- shot tobacco treatment approaches that dominate research and clinical practice. The parent grant is examining the efficacy of optimized treatment (OPT), that provides smoking cessation counseling while altering the timing, sequencing, or combining of existing pharmacotherapies to maximize efficacy versus enhanced usual care (UC) treatment for smoking cessation. The central hypothesis is that OPT will result in significantly higher abstinence rates relative to UC. Additional hypotheses are that moderators, such as treatment engagement methods including medication use and counseling attendance will mediate the relationship between treatment and abstinence. Dr. Erica Cruvinel will use data collected from the parent grant to examine the impact of other drugs, including marijuana and opioid use, on counseling engagement, medication utilization, and early tobacco abstinence among study participants. This supplement will provide Dr. Cruvinel with intensive interactions with a veteran research team to develop her overall research skills and help her transition into a productive independent researcher. The proposed project will complement the parent grant moderator analysis to enhance understanding of the effectiveness of the intervention across important study subgroups. Candidate Career Development: Dr. Cruvinel will receive training in the conceptualization, implementation, and analysis of clinical trials. She will deepen her understanding of factors impacting treatment usage and cessation among low income and racial/ethnic minority smokers. She will strengthen her track record of scholarly publications and grants. Supplement support will enable her to launch a mentored research program in tobacco-related health disparities. These activities will fully prepare her for a productive, independent research career. This supplement will cover a 2-year period and includes plans for interactions with the parent grant research team, opportunities to contribute intellectually to the research, strong and supportive mentoring, and a structured career development plan. Dr. Cruvinel will accomplish these activities by becoming part of a leading team of researchers through participation on the parent R01, taking the lead on a sub-project contained within the scope of the parent grant, and through enrollment in formal courses and seminars as well as attendance at national conferences. Her plans include submission of an NIH K-series career development award application prior to the end of the supplement. The current, proposed supplement project will support her K-award application by giving her experience studying treatment adherence and increasing her understanding of important factors that can affect adherence.